South Korea Foreign Ministry Revokes Researcher Job Offer After Applicant Cleared All Hiring Stages

South Korea's foreign ministry canceled the hiring of the daughter of former Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung as a researcher at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy. The ministry notified the applicant by email on May 29 that her final job offer had been revoked after a recruitment inspection committee review.

The committee determined the applicant did not meet the qualifications listed in the recruitment notice, the ministry said in a release.

The ministry requested disciplinary action against officials involved in the process and referred the case to the government's Central Disciplinary Committee. Shim's daughter applied for the non-civil service researcher position in February 2025. She passed the document screening, written test and interview stages.

Allegations later emerged that her work experience had been overstated and that documents were accepted after the application deadline. The ministry suspended a final hiring decision in April 2025 while seeking an audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection.

On July 16, Shim attended a hearing at the Seoul Central District Court on a warrant request for his arrest over allegations of abuse of authority tied to the Dec.

3, 2024, martial law declaration.